DALLAS -- With discussion ranging from his late Scottish terrier named Barney to the 2016 presidential race, President George W. Bush brought all topics back to leadership in historically difficult and catastrophic times.
Speaking before about 500 attendees at CSP's Convenience Retailing University (CRU) conference held in Dallas last week, the 43rd president of the United States spoke at length about events in the Middle East.
He called the rebellious ISIS movement in Iraq an ideological conflict. "ISIS is just another name for murderers trying to advance an ideology by killing innocent people," he said, "starting when 19 people hijacked four airplanes and murdered 3,000 citizens."
Referring, of course, to Sept. 11, 2001, and the terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush said that his role at that point in history was to protect the United States and its citizenry.
On the topic of conflict between Russia and the Ukraine, President Bush said Russian President Vladimir Putin "wants to reinstate Russian greatness.
President Bush recalled a story where Putin saw the small stature of Bush's Scottish terrier Barney and dismissed him. President Bush would later see Putin's dog and described him as a hound. "So here you have the leader of large nation and the leader of another large—I'd say a great nation—saying that his dog is bigger than my dog," Bush said. "When you think about Putin … he has a huge chip on his shoulder."
President Bush also commented on the potential run of his brother Jeb Bush for president in 2016. Saying the entire family supports his brother, Bush said Jeb Bush has the top-level experience and the optimistic vision needed to run the country.
"[Jeb] has proven himself a worthy leader as the CEO of the important state of Florida," Bush said. "You learn how to set a vision and hire people to help achieve that vision and hold them accountable if you don't. He cares a lot about certain issues—the education system—and has got a record for … having done something. He's running for a reason."
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